


Knowing

by orphan_account



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-02
Updated: 2012-04-02
Packaged: 2017-11-02 22:47:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/374205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Leviathans are all but gone, Dean is rebuilding Bobby's old house, Sam is finishing his law degree and Castiel is human. Everything's great until Dean finds Cas watching <em>The Notebook</em>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Knowing

**Author's Note:**

> Because [Summer](http://asabutterfields.tumblr.com) asked for Destiel in her ask box last night and this is what came out.

It'd been nearly three months since everything finally calmed down. The Leviathans were either all dead or so far into hiding that Sam and Dean didn't see any point in looking. Bobby had finally been put to rest--surprisingly with no objections on his part--and Castiel had been freed of the curse of carrying Lucifer.

Freeing Castiel of his brother was a difficult and daunting task, one that had required the assistance of an angel, and not just any angel at that. In the end it had turned out Castiel had still one link upstairs. Joshua, the gardener. The only angel God still conversed with regularly, and the only one that never left Heaven. Yet, one day, when Dean was spending the regular hospital visiting hours with Cas while Sam and Meg did research to help the angel, Joshua appeared before them.

"I've been sent on what is my first and only mission outside of Heaven," he said looking around at all of them, frowning slightly at Meg. "My Father has given me this task directly, and I must obey." He walked toward Castiel, and leaned forward, whispering into his ear in Enochian.

Castiel's body went rigid, his eyes rolled into his head and he slumped onto his bed. Dean leapt up angrily but stopped short when Joshua lifted a hand. "His mind is free. He will no longer be taunted by the visage of our rogue brother. God commanded it and so shall it be. But that is not all. For all his work, God has decided to reward Castiel. He is now one of you. He is a human, one of God's most wondrous creations."

Before anyone could react, Joshua was gone. Dean rushed to Cas's side, shaking him in attempt to wake him, while Meg and Sam hung in the background.

"Cas? Cas, man, come on, wake up."

Slowly, Castiel opened his eyes, looking groggily up at Dean. "D-Dean? Is that really...? Lucifer," he said suddenly. "He's gone! I can no longer feel him!" Acting on impulse, Castiel threw his arms around Dean and hugged him fiercely before letting go. "I apologize, we have never hugged before. I'm simply...overjoyed."

Dean just grinned at Cas, not sure how to break it to him that he was human now. He turned to Sam, who was clearly on the same train of thought. Before either of them could find a way to say it, Meg blurted it out.

"Congrats, Cassie, not only are ya good and healed, Daddy made you a human to boot!" she said with faux-enthusiasm. When Dean and Sam glared at her she laughed. "What? The cat was coming out of the bag at some point. Why not just rip the bandage off?"

With that, she blew a kiss toward Cas and vanished from the room. Sam made an exasperated noise and Dean looked nervously to Cas.

"It was Joshua, Cas. He said God sent him to fix you and that he was rewarding you for your work by making you human. Said something like you're now one of God's greatest creations or something. Personally I think it's a crock."

Castiel didn't respond for a while, just stared at his hands as if he'd been bidden to memorize them. Dean sat in the chair across the room, trying to think of a way to comfort him--the last time Cas was human, he was miserable, claiming he was useless.

"I..." Cas began before fading off. He cleared his throat awkwardly, as if the action were instinct but still foreign. "I know what you're waiting for. You're waiting for me to complain of being rendered useless, for me to try to search for a way to change this. But after everything, after all the wrongs I've done...the fact that my Father could still think to reward me...it's more than I ever dared to dream of."

Dean and Sam grinned in relief, and with everything suddenly seeming brighter, the three of them exited the hospital together, driving toward Rufus's old safe-house where Sam and Dean had been staying.

The weeks and months quickly passed, full to the brim with laughter, drunkenness and general ease. For the first time in a long time, they were able to relax. Dean began easing Cas into the wonderful world of food, starting him with things like pizza and Chinese takeout before Sam finally protested and started pushing vegetables at him. Eventually, they made their way to pies, and Dean was so pleased when Cas exclaimed it was the best thing he'd ever tasted that he actually pulled the former angel in for a hug.

Once the initial excitement of Cas's humanity faded, the three fell into a routine. Sam was taking night classes at the nearby university to finish his law degree. Even if he never did anything with it, he wanted the pride in having finished. Dean was making the hour trip to Bobby's old place daily, working on rebuilding the house. Castiel, meanwhile, had discovered television.

Figuring it was best for him to experience everything rather than running the risk of him getting hooked on cheap daytime dramas, Sam put up a satellite dish and managed to steal digital TV from the neighbors, opening Cas up to over 500 channels.

Dean was okay with the idea of it until one night, when Sam was at the library pulling an all-nighter before an exam, he came home to find Cas watching _The Notebook._

"Dude, one rule, okay? We don't do chick movies unless it's Swayze."

Cas simply flipped Dean the bird--something Dean was beginning to regret teaching him--and continued watching, going so far as to turn up the television set. With a groan, Dean joined Cas on the couch, sitting sideways with his feet on Cas's lap since Sam threw a fit whenever he found dirt or scuffs on the glass table. Cas had long since accepted that this was a normal habit of Dean's and some days--like today--he would unlace Dean's boots thoughtlessly, removing them gently so Dean could relax more fully.

Today, he did so as he watched the film, but it was taking him far longer than normal. Dean noticed and grinned, sitting up to do the rest of the work so Castiel could focus on his movie. When it reached the part where Noah saw Allie again for the first time after everything--not that Dean had seen this before or anything like that--he heard Castiel's breath hitch.

After that, Dean found himself watching Cas more than the TV, and by the end of it he was grinning fondly at his friend. There were tear tracks shining on Castiel's face, and he sniffled loudly before wiping them. Dean moved his legs off Castiel and pulled him over for a hug.

"It's a movie, Cas, just a movie," he said, gently rubbing Castiel's back.

Cas pulled away at that, frowning. "But does it just have to be a movie?" Dean looked confused, so he continued. "I just meant, it's such a wonderful story. He never stopped loving her, even when she separated herself from his life. And in the end, they wound up together again, even though things had changed, even though they were different."

Dean felt his chest seize slightly as he realized he and Cas were a real life version of the film--minus the love part of course. Well... at least probably on Cas's end.

It had taken an entire month of his visiting Cas in the mental hospital before it struck him why he'd continued returning, but he realized it eventually, and with it he realized why it had hurt so much when Castiel betrayed him. Somewhere along their journey together, Dean had let himself fall in love with his best friend. Not that he entirely regretted it, either. He was pretty sure he was incapable of that kind of real love, so to know he could do it? That was something he liked about the situation, regardless of all signs pointing toward his feelings being one-sided. But when Cas laid it all out like this, Dean couldn't help but hope.

"I dunno, Cas, I mean," he hesitated. "Do you know of anyone like that?"

Cas laughed softly. "I may have become human, Dean, but I can still tell when you're hiding something." Slowly, he leaned forward and kissed Dean gently, smiling into it when Dean not only kissed back, but also reached upward and gripped his face.

They pulled apart after a few moments, not wanting to drag it out and ruin the sweetness. "I have always known what is in your heart, Dean. I was simply waiting for you to know it also."

Dean grinned and started to pull Castiel toward him again before he suddenly stopped. "Are you saying you made me sit through The freaking _**Notebook**_ just so you would have a reason to kiss me? Man, I can't believe you actually got me with Gosling," he said with a grimace.

Castiel laughed again, and Dean decided it was his new favorite  sound. "I could have done it in a much easier manner, but Sam suggested this option. Why do you think he got me the digital cable?"

Dean was halfway into a curse directed toward his brother when he found himself silenced by Castiel's mouth pressing against his and he decided maybe, despite all the shit up to this point, maybe his life wasn't so bad.

So there might be a few Leviathans straggling out there. So there would always be demons and vampires and shifters and werewolves. None of that mattered. Not while Sam was finishing school, not while Dean was rebuilding Bobby's house, not while Cas was human, and certainly not while they all had each other. In spite of everything, Dean knew they'd be all right. For the first time in his life, he _ **knew** _ it.


End file.
